AbstractThe caribou/wild reindeer (Rangifer tarandus) has been a major resource for many human populations in northern North America and Eurasia for tens of thousands of years. The species is generally represented by prehistorians as providing an ample, easily exploited, and highly reliable resource base for humans. In this paper a number of specific assumptions leading to this view are examined in the light of new data on North American caribou and caribou-hunting Eskimo groups. The conventional picture is found to be largely untenable.
This chapter provides an overview of precontact hunter-gatherer land use in the Subarctic region of northwest Canada. The earliest evidence of human presence in this region is found in the unglaciated areas of Yukon Territory at Bluefish Caves and the Little John Site. The role of an ice-free corridor in the Mackenzie Valley in the dispersal of early peoples remains unclear. Caribou-hunting strategies are used as a theme to explore regional histories between 7,000 B.P. and the beginning of the historic period. Migratory tundra caribou were a focal resource for many hunter-gatherer societies in this region. The emerging archaeological record of alpine ice patches provides a unique view of hunter-gatherer land use in alpine regions. The archaeological record of the Mackenzie Valley is one of the poorest known in all of North America. Throughout, the chapter highlights the strengths and weaknesses of the Subarctic archaeological record for interpreting precontact land use.
"With a connection to the land, our spirit is strong" Tlicho traditional knowledge of climate change and impacts for caribou hunting: implication for traditional knowledge research